Teaching Sustainability In Early Childhood

Climate change is a concern we all have grown up reading about, and with time it has become real and shown it proves as well. With extreme temperatures, untimely and bare minimum rainfall, pollution at an ever increasing tangent and more and more people getting skin allergies, respiratory diseases and seasonal illness, it is alarming how much work needs to be done to bring back the balance of our eco system in order to live a healthy life on this planet.

From inducing the habit of using eco friendly products to planting more trees and conserving the environment, we need to teach our children the skills of being an eco-friendly person at the earliest. Children of today are the citizens of tomorrow, and they need to be aware of what is happening in the current global climate fluctuations. To preserve the environment and restore the global climate, the next generation needs to be prepared during their childhood, so they grow up into aware, sustainable human beings with love and regard for nature.

Here are a few tips that should encourage the children to learn sustainability at an early age-

1. Recycling

Recycling

Recycling is a good habit to adopt at every level. From refilling your plastic bottles to decomposing waste food materials, recycling should be taught carefully during childhood. It includes separating your waste materials, and discarding properly, buying things that can be recycled to reduce the amount of waste.

2. Opting for Eco Friendly Products

This habit is one of the most important and everlasting choices to make since childhood. Mindfully purchasing only eco-friendly products help maintain earth friendly living. When it comes to clothing and other accessories, go for natural fabrics, and eco-friendly materials to include in your wardrobe. For kids, start buying eco-friendly stationery, from seed pencils to natural hard paper. Through seed pencil, you can further motivate them to plant the seeds and grow their own vegetables, which is both engaging and exciting for the young ones.

3. Thrifting & Donating 

This is an activity you can do with your child. Once a month, plan a donation drive at your own home and find out products that you don’t use, and specially check in your wardrobe and take out the clothes, shoes and other accessories that you’ve outgrown or have lost its place in your almirah. Alternatively, make it a deal for every time you buy a new piece of clothing, or a pair of shoes, make sure you eliminate one from your cupboard as well.

Also, rather than purchasing a brand new pair of clothing, look for thrift stores and check out the preloved products. This reduces the burden on the environment, and also maintains a check on your eco-friendly wardrobe.

4. Eating Home Grown 

Gardening is one of the most enjoyable hobbies, and also helps in keeping the child engaged. Teach them how to create terrace gardens, and plant vegetables that can be grown at home. You can plant chillies, tomatoes, spinach, mint, cucumber, gourds, bell peppers etc.

This also promotes avenues for decomposition and can create manure from the waste of your kitchen. With a few simple tools, you can create your own compost, and use it for vegetable gardens.

5. Best out of Waste

As we all may have made something like this during our childhood schooling days, best out of waste triggers creativity and teaches a valuable lesson- even waste products are not completely a waste for the environment. Creating something useful or attractive from the waste, discarded materials help motivate kids to be very selective about what they discard and reduce the waste they create.

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